The GED can't help if you can't get one

Three years ago an analysis of how New Yorkers fared on the General Educational Development tests — better known as the GED — sounded an alarm.

Three years ago an analysis of how New Yorkers fared on the General Educational Development tests — better known as the GED — sounded an alarm.

There had been a widespread assumption that anybody willing to work hard and do well on the five exams would make up for dropping out of high school short of obtaining a degree. With the GED credential, people could approach employers who otherwise would not even accept applications.

Despite efforts to bring help to the widest possible audience and offer substantial accommodations for those with disabilities, the analysis showed that New York had the lowest passing rate in the nation. This year, the national passing rate of 72.2 percent is still far above New York's dismal 59.5 percent, which puts it above only the District of Columbia and Mississippi.

And now things are about to get much harder.

The GED Testing Service in Washington, the organization that prepares the test for national use, is changing both the form and the content for 2014. Test takers will have to use computers to complete the exams, and the content will be linked to the Common Core curriculum.

That means that people who lack computer skills and who are not familiar with the content and concepts being phased in across the nation are scrambling to get ready to take the tests before the changes take place. The Testing Service estimates that more than 1 million people will be tested by the end of December, well above the annual average of 700,000. And that extra demand has in many cases meant a lack of tutoring and other help for those who need it most.

The report in 2010 contained lots of depressing predictions based on the low passing rate for the GED in New York and the even lower chances of those who passed going on for more education. Those who managed to pass the GED tests were likely to earn half the salary of those who had a college degree. Those without a GED would earn even less than that.

Today, the prospects for many with a college degree are troubling, making the job market even more of a challenge for those who have only a high school diploma or less.

Those who do not finish the GED this year will face more challenges.

New York does not have the computer or network infrastructure to administer the tests in locations where for decades all that had been necessary were desks and pencils. There also is no easy way to help teach those considering the GED the computer skills that would help them not only with the tests but also with the jobs they hope to find if they pass.

The only good news comes from efforts in New York and other states to keep costs down and find alternative tests so that those who do not make it by the deadline this year are not trapped between the tentative command they might have over the old curriculum and the new technology and way of thinking on the new exams.

That will buy a bit of time while the state again looks for a solution.